In the snowy Scottish countryside, Karen Hawkins’s rakish duke has an unforgettable holiday encounter in "Twelve Kisses" when the alluring lady he surprises under the mistletoe is not who he expected, but a long-lost love with a score to settle. In "By Any Other Name", Edinburgh is aglitter for Christmastime as Candace Camp sends a curious gentleman in hot pursuit of an intriguing lady in disguise—one who refuses to reveal her true identity, though she fears he has already stolen her heart with his kiss. In "Sweet Ruin", will the festive spirit of the season sweep Meredith Duran’s feisty heroine beneath the mistletoe—and back into the arms of the dashing rogue whose carelessness soiled her reputation and sent her into exile in London?In this all-new story collection sparkling with sexy charm and heartwarming wit, four beloved bestselling authors reveal the mix-ups and make-ups, the missed chances and golden opportunities that come but once a year.

    American Ghoul is the story of an exceptionally odd teenager trying to survive the most terrible time anybody has to go through -- senior year at high school.

    All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor's doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone...and more tormented.As the cold New England autumn arrives, and Jane settles in to her new home, she finds solace in old books and memories of her dad. She steadily begins making new friends, but also faces bullying from the resident "bad seed," struggling to tamp down her own worst nature in response. Jane's mom also seems to be spiraling with the return of her childhood home, but she won't reveal why. Then Jane discovers that the "storage room" her mom has kept locked isn't for storage at all — it's a little girl's bedroom, left untouched for years and not quite as empty of inhabitants as it appears....Is it grief? Mental illness? Or something more...horrid?

    But they don’t die, and we do. Equilibrium.The unnamed and morally questionable narrator is an exorcist with great follow-through and few doubts. His methods aren’t delicate but they’re undeniably effective: he’ll get the demon out — he just doesn’t particularly care what happens to the person.Prosper of Schanz is a man of science, determined to raise the world’s first philosopher-king, reared according to the purest principles. Too bad he’s demonically possessed.

    Not since the Christmas he planned to propose to Natalie... before she dumped him. This year's Christmas gift? Having to see her again. Surprise!Natalie is finally settling into a new town. Her bed and breakfast is up and running, she's in charge of the Christmas parade, and she has absolutely zero plans of cozying up to someone special this holiday season. They wouldn't want her anyway. Not with her baggage.But when Cade shows up at Natalie's B&B, needing a place to stay, the pain of their past begs to be dealt with. Can her secret stay secret? And, more importantly, can her heart stay under lock and key?Probably not.

    Only Stella came back.Now all she wants is a summer full of cove days, friends, and her gorgeous crush - until a fresh corpse leads Stella down a path of ancient evil and secrets.Stella believes remembering what happened to Jeanie will save her. It won’t.She used to know better than to believe in what slinks through the shadows. Not anymore.

    They argue, they laugh, and they tell their stories. Some tell their own stories, some tell stories they have heard elsewhere. Some of them are true, some are not. But each tale draws you closer.One by one, the storytellers depart, until suddenly it's just you and the narrator, alone in the dark...

    . . Evil Doesn't Die The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country's largest Halloween celebration in what is now called "The Spookiest Town in America." It Just Grows Stronger But then--a month before Halloween--it begins. Unspeakably desecrated bodies. Inexplicable insanity. And an ancient evil walking the streets, drawing in those who would fall to their own demons and seeking to shred the very soul of this rapidly fracturing community. Yes, the residents of Pine Deep have drawn together and faced a killer before. But this time, evil has many faces--and the lust and will to rule the earth. This struggle will be epic.

    The five freshest voices in horror will make you reconsider leaving the house on October 31st with these all-new Halloween tales:• A brother and sister creep out of the darkness with bags full of deadly tricks in Gregor Xane’s THE RIGGLE TWINS.• A boy with a misshapen skull just wants to be normal in Evans Light’s PUMPKINHEAD TED.• A group of thrill seekers learn that looking for terror is a whole lot more fun than finding it in Adam Light’s GHOST LIGHT ROAD.• Two bullies go looking for trouble but instead find a young boy and his imaginary friend in Jason Parent’s EASY PICKINGS.• When a mysterious, Halloween-themed attraction comes to the town of Bay’s End, everyone is dying to pay a visit in Edward Lorn’s THE SCARE ROWS.Available in eBook beginning September 7, 2014.Paperback available beginning September 14, 2014.

    A veteran of the Vietnam War, the tough old soldier is haunted by nightmares of brutal conflict. But he’s about to discover that his battle for survival has only just begun. Professor Abel Worthe is brilliant, wealthy, and utterly immoral. He is an expert in a very particular field: the study of fear and death. Using his vast resources, Worthe has purchased a collection of haunted houses and paranormal sites, hidden across the world. And he intends to subject a captive to each location in his collection of horror, all in the name of science. All he needs is a test subject, a human lab rat to undergo his experiment in terror. And the target of his sinister attention is Marcus Holt. The aging veteran soon finds himself snatched off the streets, and forced to endure a never-ending barrage of horror. But Marcus is no stranger to fear and death. He’s a fighter. And he is determined to survive long enough to find and kill his malicious captor. Let the games begin.

    As she settles into her new home, she begins a genuine friendship with her landlord, and they discover a fondness and mutual trust for each other.However, as the months go on, Lena begins experiencing increasingly bizarre and fantastical happenings, and she suspects that there is something nefarious lurking beneath the foundations of the house, which Ellis will not admit is there. To uncover the truth, Lena must put her relationship with Ellis at hazard, and what she discovers is something unearthly and beyond death.

    Each new soul arrives with a story and a last wish. If she can grant their wish, they’ll move on and leave her be. But that isn’t always possible and her head is getting crowded... Three weeks from taking a new job, Linh gets fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Bauer stuck in her head. Another voice is bad enough, but Linh is horrified to learn that the girl’s last wish is for her father to die. When Linh refuses, Elizabeth decides there’s only one way to get what she wants—to take over Linh’s body and kill her father herself. During the struggle that follows Linh is forced to decide what’s more important—her life and the lives of those around her or her oath as a physician to do no harm.

    Except at their new home. There is something off about 23 Ripley Avenue. It’s a large Colonial house, the biggest in town, where the floorboards creak and even the darkness seems darker. Worst of all is the stench, which seems to emanate from the locked door in the basement, the one nobody can get open. It smells of death and decay, slowly spreading from the basement like a sickness. Toby must uncover the truth behind his new home before the death takes over everything – including his family.

    When they encounter a dying deer in the middle of a remote mountain road with fresh tire tracks swerving down into a ravine, they know they have to help. But when they reach the wrecked car the vehicle appears empty, with signs that the driver escaped.Until they hear a sound coming from the trunk.Ty and Cory are escaping demons of their own. But what they discover in the trunk puts them in the crosshairs of something darker and more sinister than their wildest nightmares.Told through a gripping, lightning-fast narrative that alternates between present and past, this unputdownable survival thriller unravels the tangled circumstances that led Ty and Cory to the deer in the road and set them on a perilous course through the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.

    Soon, they return from the grave…and ask for blood. And with blood, they stop being dead. They continue to remain the children they once were...but only for a short time, as they need more blood to live. The average human body holds ten pints of blood, so the inevitable question for parents everywhere becomes: How far would you go to bring your child back?